


Sail Away

by hmweasley



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Banned Together Bingo, Beyond Panem's Opening Event, Cruise Ships, F/M, Mental Health Issues, Motion Sickness, Past Violence, Post-Book 3: Mockingjay, Psychological Trauma, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27367012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/hmweasley
Summary: Katniss gets reluctantly dragged along on a cruise, and it only gets worse from there.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen & Effie Trinket, Katniss Everdeen & Johanna Mason, Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Peeta Mellark & Effie Trinket
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Sail Away

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts:  
> Banned Together Bingo - excretory functions  
> Beyond Panem Opening Event - luxury (District 1)
> 
> I started a Hunger Games Discord server because I couldn't find one to join, and I created an opening event for it, which led to this. If anyone's interested in joining, you can [here](https://discord.gg/KqKYFw8jdB).

Katniss stared at Effie in horror, her stomach churning at the mere thought of the other woman’s suggestion. She’d been cautious when her former escort had announced a trip to District 12 was in order. It was only the second time she’d visited them since the end of the war, and Katniss hadn’t expected another after the disaster that had been the first one.

So, Katniss had expected that Effie had something to say, but she hadn’t expected this.

“A cruise?” Haymitch snarled, conveying Katniss’ own feelings better than she could in that moment.

“A cruise,” Effie affirmed, her voice sparkling with enthusiasm. “They’re a new company that’s started up, and they were positive that the Star-Crossed Lovers would love to help bring prosperity to District 4. Of course I accepted on your behalf.”

She inclined her head towards Katniss and Peeta, her shockingly white teeth on display thanks to her huge smile. Katniss had half a mind to yell and might have done just that if Peeta hadn’t reached out to take her hand.

“You really should have asked us first, Effie,” he said.

Or not have negotiated deals on their behalf at all, Katniss wanted to add. It had been Effie who had insisted on acting as something akin to a manager for the District 12 Victors after the war. Katniss hadn’t wanted it, but with Effie out of a job and a home, she’d felt that she might as well humor her with a paycheck. Besides, she had no desire to deal with the annoying offers that got sent their way by herself.

Effie huffed and crossed her arms against her chest. Her brightly colored lips poked out in a pout.

“If I had asked, you wouldn’t have agreed. And I get it, Katniss. I may not understand why you’re adamant about never leaving this place, but I know how you feel about travel. It’s just that the company made the great point that you and Peeta never had a honeymoon. This is your chance to enjoy yourselves!”

Katniss shuddered at the word ‘honeymoon.’ That was a Capitol tradition that no one from District 12 had ever had the freedom—let alone the desire―to partake in. Katniss had seen the fancy trips on Capitol television shows, but she and Peeta had never even considered doing it themselves.

“Maybe Effie is right this once,” Haymitch slurred with an amused grin on his face. “Getting some fresh sea air might do you some good. I’ve heard it’s excellent for your health.”

Effie turned to him, her smile tightening.

“You’ll be able to find out for yourself if that’s true, Haymitch. I told them that all four of us would be going.”

Haymitch sputtered on the alcohol that he’d just taken a swig of.

“You what?” he gasped between coughs.

Effie shrugged, a smirk on her lips that hinted that she knew exactly what she had done.

“Like you said, it’s excellent for your health, and you need that more than the rest of us do.”

Haymitch didn’t bother with a verbal response, and Effie ignored his glare as her focus returned to Katniss and Peeta.

“Five days on a gorgeous ship. You should see the pictures they sent me! And we’d get to see the Panem coastline for ourselves. There’s so much to do on board! Katniss, they even have an area for archery. All because of you of course.”

Katniss looked to Peeta. He was the only one of the three of them who was able to talk sense into Effie. No matter what Katniss said, Effie would just stick firmer to her beliefs, but a few words from Peeta could turn everything around.

When Katniss looked at them though, he was staring at the brochure Effie had brought with a bit too much curiosity. Feeling Katniss’ gaze, he turned to her with a hesitant smile.

“Would it be so bad?” he asked, simultaneously reaching for her hand and cradling it in both of his own.

Katniss huffed.

“Being locked on a ship with nowhere to run for a week while we’re paraded around for the Capitol again?” she asked. “Yes, it can.”

Peeta frowned before leaning forward and picking up the brochure for himself.

“Doesn’t it look gorgeous though?” he asked. “I’ve never been out on the sea like that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be out there surrounded by nothing but water. The experience might be worth it. We’re not being threatened. I’m sure we have enough power to negotiate with the cruise company if they try to make us do something ridiculous. We’ll be firm that we’ll do one photoshoot and that’s it. The rest of the time we can just enjoy the trip.”

Katniss wrinkled her nose. She still didn’t think she could enjoy a cruise. She loved swimming in the lake, but that was different. Being stuck on a boat sounded horribly claustrophobic, especially with the amount of people the company’s photos showed. It reminded Katniss too much of being locked in the arena.

Yet when he looked at Peeta, prepared to put her foot down, she noticed the fascination in his eyes as he looked at the brochure, and she wilted.

“Maybe we could try it just this once,” she muttered, bitterness coloring her voice. “If there’s only one photoshoot.”

She sure hoped Peeta’s answering smile would be enough of a reward.

* * *

Katniss was quiet that night as she prepared for bed, which wasn’t out of the ordinary. Sometimes she could go entire days hardly speaking a word, yet Peeta still noticed that this silence was different. He nudged her as he climbed into bed beside her. Katniss pressed her arm into his as they sat against the pillows.

“If you don’t want to go on the cruise,” Peeta said, “we don’t have to go.”

Katniss shook her head.

“You want to go, so we can go. I just don’t understand why you want to. We’ll be trapped on a giant ship that we have no control over. It’s like being in an arena.”

Peeta wrapped an arm around her middle and pulled her to his chest. She sunk into the embrace as he pressed a kiss to the top of her forehead.

“I’m serious about not needing to go,” he said into her hair. “If you’re going to be in distress while we’re on the ship, then it’s not worth it. No matter how curious I might be about the whole thing.”

Katniss shook her head as best as she could without lifting it from his chest.

“Just because I don’t like the idea of it doesn’t mean I can’t handle it,” she said, a hint of irritation leaking through. “It does sound like an arena, but I don’t think I’m going to get any flashbacks or anything like that. There will be too many Capitol people swarming around for that.”

Peeta allowed himself a small laugh, and even Katniss smiled at the thought of it. She pulled back to get a better look at his face.

“But why do you want to go? What about that cruise do you find appealing?”

Peeta shrugged, his eyes focused on something unseen in the distance.

“There’s the idea of helping District 4,” he said slowly. “I know it might be one of the richer people in the district running all this, but at least the money isn’t going to the Capitol, and the people on the ship can make a living. I like the idea of giving back in that way I guess…

“But, also, I’ve just never been out on the ocean like that. We barely got our feet wet the last time we were in District 4. The idea of being out on the water, so far out that you can’t even see land… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll hate it once I’m there, but I’d like to experience it at least once.”

Katniss watched him for a moment, trying to imagine the same thing in her mind. She loved going to the lake and swimming. She’d even loved the idea of the ocean during previous visits to District 4. But she didn’t think she’d like it as much if she was stuck on a huge boat. That would take away everything she liked most about being in the water.

“You don’t think you’ll feel trapped?” she asked, fiddling with a loose string on his shirt as she said it.

Maybe all that open space was meant to be freeing, but she couldn’t imagine it that way. Far from land, she was sure that she’d worry about never coming back.

Peeta sighed and shifted her in his arms to run a hand along her back.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “I’ve thought about it, but I still want to try it.”

“You can’t even swim,” Katniss pointed out in one last ditch effort for him to change his mind.

Peeta laughed, a sparkle in his blue eyes that made Katniss smile despite the situation.

“I’m sure they’ll have precautions against that on a boat of that size.”

Katniss didn’t trust those precautions, though she agreed they would probably exist in some capacity. She’d spend the entire trip on high alert over falling overboard or something.

Peeta reached for the brochure Effie had brought, which he’d sat aside on his bedside table while he prepared for bed.

“There’s a lot to do besides swimming anyway,” he mused, trailing a finger along the list of different options.

Katniss stared at the brochure with tired eyes. All the bright colors caught her eye more than what was happening in the pictures, but she tried to make sense of it, realizing that a long winding thing was meant to be a giant slide built on top of the boat. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Effie mentioned the archery,” Peeta said, his finger pointing at a young girl in braids meant to mimic Katniss’ own as she pointed an arrow with improper form. “I think you’ll scare the other passengers if you try that though.” Katniss didn’t argue. She didn’t want to take part in it on the ship anyway. “But there are other things to try. There’s a rock climbing wall and some shows… I’m not sure you’ll like any of those though.”

If the pictures were anything to go by, she wouldn’t. The colorful, over-the-top costumes reminded her too much of Capitol TV shows.

“But there’s a planetarium where you can look at the stars. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“Can’t you do that outside on the ship?” Katniss asked, scowling at the picture of lights masquerading as stars on the ceiling.

Peeta hummed in half-hearted agreement.

“It probably won’t be for us,” he admitted, folding the brochure up and tossing it back onto the bedside table, “but at least we’ll be able to say we did it afterward.”

Which was something that Peeta would probably care more for than Katniss, but if it made him happy, she supposed nothing harmful would come from a short cruise. At the very least, it would get Effie off their backs for a few months.

* * *

“A cruise?” Johanna’s laughter echoed through the phone line, making Katniss cringe. “And you couldn’t just say no, lover girl?”

Katniss frowned at the wall as if Johanna could see her all the way in District 7. For just about the only time in her life, she wished they had one of those video phones that were becoming popular in the districts. As it was, she’d have to trust that Johanna could imagine the look on her face.

“I tried to at first,” she said. “But Peeta wants to go, and if worst comes to worst, I can just stay in the room on the ship.”

“With Trinket there and running the itinerary?” Johanned asked. Katniss imagined her raised skeptical eyebrow. “That woman is still stuck in the Hunger Games. You’ll be paraded around like a doll the entire trip, and you know it. Get yourself out of that misery, Katniss.”

Katniss groaned and ran a hand over her brow.

“I can’t. Effie will throw a fit if I back out. She already confirmed everything with the company.”

“You can,” Johanna said. “I’ve gotten myself out of loads of things, and I’m not even the Mockingjay. Everyone still thinks of us as murderers when you get down to it. If they push back, you just glare. They will back down. Even the peacekeepers. Believe me.”

“But Effie—”

“You really shouldn’t have gotten through two games and a war without realizing the full extent of your influence over people, Katniss. It’s pathetic.”

Katniss sighed and wandered over to the staircase to sit down. Through the doorway to the living room, she could make out half of the large painting of primroses that hung over the couch. Peeta had spent months on that painting not long after he’d moved in with her.

“Peeta wants to go,” she repeated, already knowing what reaction that would get from Johanna.

Sure enough, Johanna groaned. Katniss imagined her eyes rolling into the back of her head like they always did when she was reminded of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship.

“This is why I’m single,” she said. “There’s no way in hell that I’d be going on a cruise ship for any man, Everdeen, and you shouldn’t be either. Things are much better when you can do whatever you want, whenever you want.”

“I nearly died for him,” Katniss pointed out with a grin on her lips. “Going on a cruise for him shouldn’t be a big deal in comparison.”

Johanna’s only response was another scoff.

* * *

The train car Effie booked for them between Districts 12 and 4 was already more than Katniss wanted. It reminded her of the trains they’d been ushered to and from the Capitol on as tributes, and she knew that wasn’t a coincidence. No doubt many of the Capitol tourists who had begun traveling with more freedom around the districts found such details to be a nice touch.

Katniss didn’t say anything about the decor to the others, though they had to notice as easily as she did. At least their car on the train was private. They’d even opted not to have any attendants enter during the ride.

The ship was something else entirely once they got there. It was teeming with people from the moment they stepped aboard. Katniss kept herself pressed to Peeta’s side in a hopeless attempt to keep from brushing against people accidentally.

Effie led the rest of them with her shoulders straight and her head held high. Every set of eyes that followed the notorious Victors made Effie taller. Meanwhile, Katniss kept her gaze on Effie’s back, refusing to make eye contact with a single passenger. Everyone around them was Capitol. Despite what little she’d seen of District 4, Katniss could tell that much. Annie had even implied it when she’d briefly met with them on the trip from the train station to the docks.

Katniss longed to get back on dry land despite the boat still being tethered to the shore. A week spent at Annie’s house wouldn’t be bad, and Peeta could still experience whatever he was hoping to find on the garish ship.

“Oh, look at this magnificent deck!” Effie exclaimed, throwing her arms out without paying attention to the people forced to duck out of the way.

Katniss scowled at the deck in question. There was an endless row of identical chairs for sunbathing, an activity that Katniss didn’t understand. Sure, she liked being outdoors. She even liked sitting in the sun, but not like that, on some strange-looking deck floating in the ocean.

Even Peeta was gripping Katniss’ hand tighter the longer they were on the boat.

“Effie,” he said, keeping a carefully crafted smile on his lips. “Maybe we should drop our bags off in our rooms before exploring? It’ll be easier when we’re not trying to prevent ourselves from accidentally whacking someone with a suitcase.”

Effie pouted over it but ultimately agreed. Below deck, everything was worse. As they headed for their room, they went down hallway after hallway that was identical in every way except the numbers on the doors. It left Katniss thoroughly confused as to where they were. She was half convinced that they’d be condemned to wander the ship forever without finding a way out.

The room itself wasn’t much better, yet Katniss exhaled a sigh of relief once she was inside and safely locked away from the crowds above them. She dropped her bag onto the floor near a plush sofa that Haymitch had already thrown himself across.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Effie said, eyeing Haymitch. “We have far too much exploring to do.”

Having found the minibar—a thing which Katniss had only seen on Capitol television before—Haymitch ignored her. Even Effie’s loud huff as he screwed open a tiny bottle of vodka didn’t make a difference.

“I don’t really want to go back out there either,” Katniss admitted, lowering herself into a chair beside the couch and sinking far lower than she’d expected to.

She stared up at Effie as the older woman turned to her with a large, fake smile across her face.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Katniss. We can’t waste away such a wonderful opportunity in our rooms.”

* * *

The ship’s restaurant reminded Katniss of the Capitol parties she’d been forced to attend. At first, she’d thought that was the reason she felt nauseous. It had been coming on since arriving on the ship, but Katniss had been convinced that it was merely disgust with her surroundings.

As the waiter put her order in front of her—a fish and potato dish that had been the plainest thing she could find on the menu—she realized that there was more going on than general disgust. The smell of the food around her made her stomach gurgle uncomfortably.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the feeling to go away. It didn’t. If anything, losing her sight made it worse, so Katniss focused on her fork instead, not making a move to pick it up. She was too scared of what might happen if she actually tried to eat.

She felt Peeta’s hand on her back and jumped. She’d been so focused on her nausea that she hadn’t noticed anything else.

“You alright?” he asked in her ear.

Katniss glanced up to find not only Peeta but also Haymitch and Effie watching her. Effie’s lips were pressed into a thin line as if she were about to scold Katniss for being rude.

“I don’t feel good,” Katniss choked out.

Speaking made the nausea worse. In that moment, Katniss realized that it wasn’t going away.

She pushed herself away from the table and took off at a run, weaving around startled waiters and tables of wide-eyed passengers until she reached the hallway. She looked around desperately for a restroom, but there was no sign of one.

It was too late. Doubling over, Katniss vomited up what little food remained in her stomach from her last meal on the train.

“Not again,” an exasperated voice said to her left.

Katniss glanced up to find a young man standing in front of her with dropped shoulders. His uniform jacket was slightly askew, but that was the last thing on his mind as he looked down at the puddle of Katniss’ vomit on the floor.

“Sorry,” Katniss muttered at the same moment that Peeta emerged from the dining room.

Peeta looked between Katniss and the employee and then down at the vomit before muttering, “Shit.”

He put his hand to Katniss’ back again, and Katniss leaned into him, letting him support part of her weight.

“I told Effie you weren’t okay,” he said, rubbing her back.

The young employee ignored them as he called for help. Peeta, in an unusual move for him, ignored the employee in turn.

“Let’s get you back to the room,” he said, ushering Katniss forward.

Katniss let him lead her. She still couldn’t make any sense of the endless halls of identical doors, but Peeta knew where he was going somehow. They’d gone up several floors—with Katniss getting quesier by the second—when a young preteen girl popped in front of them with a large smile on her face.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, her high-pitched squeal making Katniss cringe. “You’re Katniss and Peeta! I can’t believe I’ve actually met you.”

Katniss started back at her blankly. This didn’t happen often, since no one in District 12 would have dared, but it had happened enough that Katniss knew Peeta would handle it if she stayed silent. He was much better at knowing what to say, but in that moment, even he was unsure.

“I’m sorry, but we really can’t talk—“

“Can I have a picture?” the girl asked, ignoring that Peeta had been speaking and brandishing her camera at him instead.

Peeta cringed as he maneuvered past the girl and her outstretched camera. Katniss frowned, knowing how guilty he felt in that moment to brush off a kid. Katniss also knew that she really must have looked ill if Peeta had deemed getting her back to their room more important than taking the time to placate the kid.

If the kid said anything more, Katniss was quickly overwhelmed by nausea again and couldn’t hear it. She was dangerously close to being sick on the floor a second time, something which would probably put her permanently in the bad graces of the ship’s staff. She may have hated the place, but they were the last people on the boat that she wanted to inconvenience.

Luckily, they made it to their room a split second before it was too late. Katniss could hardly see straight as Peeta shoved a trash can under her nose.

A few minutes later, she was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and cursing the way the ship moved beneath her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said, not daring to look in the direction of where Peeta sat perched in an armchair.

“Sea sickness probably,” Peeta said, watching her with a frown. “This binder here says there’s a nurse on the ship. We can go if you want…”

He said it slowly, knowing how apprehensive Katniss would be of a nurse who she’d never met. Especially if there was a chance of said nurse being from the Capitol.

“Later,” she said. “If it doesn’t get better, I’ll go.”

But even as she said it, she knew she would resist if it did last. She closed her eyes, willing the nausea to go away on its own.

* * *

Annie was waiting for them when they got off the ship, her young son wiggling in her arms. She was easy to spot thanks to the space that the crowd gave the notorious Victor. They only moved farther away as the District 12 Victors and Effie approached. 

Even Effie, enthusiastic as she’d been about the cruise, wobbled on her feet once they were back on land. Katniss suspected that certain aspects of the boat had been harder for her to handle than she was letting on, but she was nothing but smiles as they approached Annie.

“Welcome back!” Annie said, bouncing the toddler up and down. “How was it?”

Katniss couldn’t respond. She’d expected to feel relief the second she was back on solid ground. Instead, no longer moving reminded her brain how nauseating the entire experience had been. Before she could do anything else, she bent over and was sick one final time on the pavement beneath her.

Effie and Peeta both jumped backward, while Haymitch stumbled, but Annie, having spent a lifetime on the sea, was unsurprised. When Katniss finally managed to look up at her, the redhead was smiling at her sympathetically, not the least bit concerned with the vomit on the ground in front of her.

“Never again,” Katniss choked out, her voice raspy.

No one argued with her.


End file.
